Valve



H. J. RAND Jan. 28, 1958 VALVE Filed Feb. 23, 1954 /E&

- INl 'EN TOR. HENRY J. RAND ATF'ONNE Y3 2,821,356 Patented Jan. 28, 195

VALVE Application February 2 3, 1954, Serial No. 411,851

2 Claims. 01. 251-333 This invention relates to improvements in a valveand more particularly to a drip proof valve which is opened and closedby a feather touch. 1 v

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending applicationSerial No. 71,092, filed January 15, 1949, now abandoned for Valve.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a valve of thetype described which is not complicated to manufacture or difiicult toservice. Prior valves and faucets of this type have been difficult toassemble and service and generally they have been comprised of so manyparts that they were difficult and complicated in their manufacture. r

' Another object of the present invention is to; provide a novel valvewherein the pressure of the controlled fluid is relied upon to aid inthe sealing of the valve when closed, but wherein the valve washer maybe introduced to its operative position while attached to its operatingstem by introducing the same from the downstream side of the valvehousing.

' Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novelvalve of the plug type closing in the direction of fluid flow whereinthe parts are so dimensioned and carefully constructed to provide avalve which closes and opens very easily, which provides a drip proofclosure, which has very little wear over a long period of use, and yet avalve requiring a small number of parts which are easily manufacturedand assembled.

Otherobjects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from theaccompanying drawings and description, and the essential features willbe set forth in the appended claims.

" In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a central sectional view through a fauce equipped with myinvention; 7 t

Fig. 2is an enlarged sectional view through the valve portion of Fig. land showing the valve in closed position;

Fig. 3 is a fragmental sectional view taken along the lines 3-3 of Fig.1;

I Fig. 4 is a fragmental sectional view taken along the line44 of Fig.1; g

Fig. 5 is a view of the valve portion of Fig. 1 illustratinghow thevalve is assembled by pushing the washer from the top down;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view through the valve of Fig. 1 showing themanner of assembling the valve washer upon the stem.

' My invention is applicable to many types of valves and faucets and-Ihave chosen to illustrate the same as applie'dto a well-known type offaucet. Hereafter the word faucet will be used in connection with thedescriptionbut it should be understood that my invention is equallyapplicable to many types of valve.

" A5 shown in Fig. 1 I ha'veshown a faucet body 10 having aninletopening 11 at the bottom adapted to be attached to a suitableconduit. Just above the inlet there is a valve chamber 12 leading to abore 13 through which the valve operates. Above the bore is an enlargedchamber 14 which leads to the outlet spout 15. Obviously, chamber 12 isat the upstream end of the bore 13 and chamber 14 is at the downstreamend. Above chamber 14 the housing is provided with 'the usual coarsethreads 16 which coact with threads 17 on a valve stem 18 which extendsthrough the upper portion of the housing where the stem is sealed bymeans of packing 19 held in place by a packing nut 20 which is threadedinto the upper portion of the housing. The top of the valve stem isnonrotatably united with the faucet handle 21 in a usual manner. Thelower end 22 of the valve stem might be made integral with the stem 18but, preferably, I mount the valve stem portion 22 so that it isrotatable relative to the valve stem 18 for a purpose later disclosed.To this end, the upper end of stem portion 22 enters a recess 18a in thelower end of the valve stem and is held rotatably therein by means of aU-shaped pin 23 which slides into the milled slots 18b of the stem 18and engages in the annular groove 22b of the stem portion 22. The stemportion 22 is thus fixed longitudinally relative to the stem 18 but mayrotate therein.

On the lower end of stem portion 22 is mounted the valve seal or washer24. Means must be provided to see that the valve washer is firmly heldagainst the lower end of the stem portion 22 to avoid chatter and meansmust also be used to insure that the valve retains a suitable shape aswill presently appear.

One means is shown here for holding the valve washer firmly against thevalve stem and for maintaining the proper shape of the washer. Referencemay be had to my copending application Serial No. 71,093, filed January15, 1949, for other means of accomplishing the same result. Referring toFigs. 2 and 6, a projection 22a is formed in the center of the stemportion 22 extending downwardly therefrom and provided with a thread 25which also extends upwardly into the stem portion 22 to receive a screw26 which holds the washer in place. The dimension A of this projection22a as indicated in Fig. 6 is less than the dimension B of the washer.In one form of my device where the washer is approximately A inch indiameter, the dimension A is .105 inch while the dimension B is .125inch. Then when the metal washer 27 is placed beneath the head of screw26, the screw is then drawn down tight from the position of Fig. 6 tothat of Fig. 2. This causes the rubber material of the washer 24 topress firmly against the stem portion 22 but is not sufiicient todistort the washer. I find that if rubber is used for the washer 24having a durometer hardness of from 40 to 50 up to 75 or a little more,in a washer of approximately 1 inch diameter, the pulling of thedimension B from .125 inch down to .105 inch gives suflicientcompression to hold the washer tightly against the flared out flangedbottom 220 of the stem portion 22. I find also that under theseconditions there is not enough bulging outwardly of the tapered sides 1of the washer to badly effect the sealing action which will presently bedescribed.

Since the dimensions of the washer and the parts into which it sealsmust be very carefully chosen, I will de-J scribe one form of my devicein detail sothat the PI1HCi', ples will be understood. Referring to Fig.2 in a faucet where the bore 13 has a diameter, dimension C of .4218inch corresponding to inch, I utilize a washer'24 having a top diameterD of .406 inch corresponding to inch. The sides of the washer 24 flaredownwardly and outwardly from the top at an angle F of about 5 to 10degrees to the vertical. In the drawings shown, this angle is about /2degrees. The bottom diameter E of the washer in the form shown is .442inch which is slightly more than A inch. The flange 220 must supportalmost the entire upper surface of the washer 24 in the form of .myinvention shown here, in order to prevent singing or chatter of thevalve. I find that in valves up to about one inch diameter bore, wherethe upper face of the plug or washer 24 is held rigid by being heldagainst a flat surface like the flange 226, if the unsupported top wallof the washer outside of the flange 22c is more than about of an inch,there is undesirable noise when the valve is opened and closed.Furthermore, the largest diameter of flange 220 should be D minus 0.010inch, plus or minus 0.005 inch. These values are critical for a quietvalve. In my copending application mentioned above, I disclose and claimother manners of holding the upper portion of the washer rigid againstchattering, but the form shown herein operates in a very satisfactorymanner.

Where, in the specification and claims, I have used expressionsreferring to means supporting or reinforcing the valve plugsubstantially out to the periphery of its base of smaller diameter orthat the face (22c) being only slightly less in diameter than thesmaller base (diameter D) of the plug, and similar expressions, I intendto convey the idea that the support or reinforcement at the downstreamend of the valve plug, leaves only a narrow annular resilient cushionbetween the supporting or reinforcing surface and the bore 13. It isobvious that this may vary according to the circumstances. Referring toFigs. 2 and 7, the thing which is to be avoided is the extrusion of theresilient plug material 24 in Fig. 2 and 24' in Fig. 7 upwardly aroundthe periphery of the flange 220 due to the pressure of the fluid belowthe valve plug. With a given dimension D and a given diameter of theflange 22c and a givn durometer hardness of the plug 24 or 24,obviously, a low fluid pressure might not extrude the resilient plugupwardly in the annular unsupported resilient cushion region but ahigher fluid pressure might do so. Conversely, with all of thedimensions fixed, a greater durometer hardness of the plug 24 or 24'might prevent extrusion where a softer resilient material might beextruded. I, therefore, combine the unsupported resilient cushion areaaround the periphery of the smaller diameter or upper diameter of theplug 24 and 24' with the hardness of the plug material and the fluidpressure acting against the plug, so that extrusion of the plug materialupwardly around the flange 22c will not take place under any given setof conditions.

Suflicient flexibility must be provided at the lower end of the washerto permit the flaring sides to be squeezed inwardly as shown in Fig. 5when the washer is passed downwardly through the bore 13 and tocontribute a slight flexibility outwardly to assist in the sealingaction as illustrated in Fig. 2. One manner of providing thisflexibility is to provide a hollow cupshape portion at the lower end ofthe washer by the peripheral flange 24a extending downwardly. The metalwasher 27 engaging the bottom of the cupshape portion to hold the washerfirmly against the stem portion 22 is approximately inch diameter in theinstant form.

It results from the above construction that the faucet is easilyassembled and disassembled by passing the parts downwardly from the topportion of the housing as is usual and desirable in faucets of thischaracter. With the Washer properly secured to the stem portion 22, thestem and washer are pushed downwardly through the bore 13 as shown inFig. 5. The upper end of the bore is flared outwardly as indicated at 28in order to earn the washer flange 24a inwardly for this operation.

When the valve is in operating position as shown in Fig. 1 a turn of thehandle 21 serves to move the valve plug upwardly into the bore 13 to theposition shown in Fig. 2. The lower end of the bore 13 has its wallseither flared outwardly as indicated at 29 or provided with a slightlycurved or chamfered edge so as to provide a line sealing contact aroundan annular zone at the point 30 indicated in Fig. 2. Obviously, the bore13 might be somewhat smaller or somewhat larger than that shown andstill coact with the valve washer 24 of the dimensions indicated. Insuch a case, the line seal along the zone 30 would occur either at alower or at a higher level on the washer. The faucet will operate with afeather touch, because all that is necessary for a perfect seal is thesimple line contact along the zone 30. After this the fluid underpressure aids in the sealing action. This seal will hold almost anypressure close to zero on up.

Attention is called to the slight taper on the side walls of the washer24. If this flares too sharply outwardly there is a tendency for thevalve to sing, and if the flare is too little in the form shown in Fig.2 then it tends to produce a water hammer. I have found 5 to 7 degreesangle at the angle F to be satisfactory. I have deliberately placedlarge quantities of dirt and sand in water for testing my faucet andfind that the action of pulling the tapered plug 24 upwardly into thebore 13 causes a wiping action along the side walls of the washer sothat the dirt is wiped away and a clean seal is produced. Obviously, ifthe washer became worn, then it would be only necessary to pull thewasher plug slightly farther upward into the bore 13 in order to producea good seal. In actual operation several million times there has beeninsufiicient wear of the washer 24 to call for any adjustment.

The swivel mounting of the stern portion 22 in the main stem 18 preventsany scuffing of the rubber of the washer seal. This causes the seal tobe pulled in and out rather than twisted.

Preferably, means is provided to prevent the pulling of the plug so farup into the bore 13 that a good seal with line contact is not provided.To this end I have arranged for the upper shoulder 17a of the thread 17to abut against a plate 31 which underlies the packing gland when theupper limit of movement is reached. This occurs while the washer plug isstill in position to make a good seal at the zone 30. Stop means is alsoprovided to prevent the running of the washer 24 so far downwardly thatit would jam against the shoulder 32 indicated in Fig. 1. T 0 this end aboss 21a on the handle abuts against the packing nut 20 so that thewasher cannot be moved any lower than shown in Fig. 1.

It has been mentioned that, in any form of my device, the sealing plugmay be solid with some compressibility or it may have a solid portion ofthickness B (Fig. 6) and a peripheral flange 24a extending therebelow.If such a flange is provided, it should extend below the solid portionof the plug for a distance not substantially greater than the solidthickness B. This is for the purpose of equalizing the pressure insideand outside of this flange and to prevent undesirable stretching of thisflange radially outwardly and possibly folding back onto the outer sideface of the solid portion of the plug due to fluid pressure inside thecupshape plug bottom, just as the plug moves into sealing position.

The support of the top of the plug by the flaring stem bottom 22c,extending almost to the periphery of the plug top, is valuable in valvesof large size. A resilient plug of large diameter would not hold itsshape over the entire top of the plug to fulfill its desired function inmy improve-d valve if it were not for this reinforcement almost out tothe very edge of the top of the plug.

The curved and flared portion 22d near the bottom of stem portion 22 hasanother function. If the sealing plug is off center just before it movesinto the bore 13, due to faulty construction or worn parts or otherwise,the surface 22d will engage the lowermost wall of the bore 13 and camthe sealing plug into a centered position.

What I claim is:

l. A valve comprising a housing having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet,there being a cylindrical bore in said housing intermediate said inletand outlet and communieating with both of them, a resilientfrusto-conical sealing plug having a base of smaller diameter than saidbore insertable into one end of said bore and having a base of largerdiameter than said bore, the diameter of said plug bases being so chosenwith respect to the diameter of said bore that said plug when insertedinto said one end of said bore, in substantially unstressed condition,meets said bore in annular line contact a material distance down theslanting sides of said plug from said base of smaller diameter towardsaid base of larger diameter, means holding said plug base of smallerdiameter substantially rigid over the major portion of said base andleaving an annular non-rigid area of said plug radially outside saidlast named means and in the plane of said base of smaller diameter, saidnon-rigid annular area having a radial extent between approximately0.005 and 0.015 inch, and means for moving said plug into and out ofsaid one end of said bore.

2. A valve as in claim 1 wherein said frusto-conical plug fiaresoutwardly from said base of smaller diameter toward said base of largerdiameter at an angle between five and ten degrees, and said plug beingof rubber-like material of approximately to durometer hardness.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

